


The Struggles Between Us

by thatwriterchique



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Extra-Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven, Gen, Mentioned Ben Hargreeves, Pre-Canon, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26770666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatwriterchique/pseuds/thatwriterchique
Summary: Vanya finds herself learning a little something about her family when she least expects it.(Takes place about a year after The Book has come out, so Vanya & Klaus are about 24-years old in this.)
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 5
Kudos: 64





	The Struggles Between Us

Vanya entered the kitchen quietly as she was trying to get in and out of the mansion as quickly as possible. She didn’t want to risk running into Pogo, Mom, or, G*d forbid, Dad. A difficult task considering the place was covered with fully functional security cameras. But at least not running into anyone decreased her chances of actually being forced to interact with them. Hence, coming in through the kitchen instead of the front door. She’d just barely shut the door behind her, when a loud clap made her jump. Her heart was a rabid thump <i>thump thump </i> in her chest. The culprit seemed to be a feather covered silhouette on the table. Yet, she knew who it was before she even turned on the light.

As predicted, Klaus was sat on the table in his feathery coat with a bowl of cereal in front of him. He’d sat it down to get her attention, clapping as he exclaimed excitedly, “Vanya! Lovely to see you sis. Ben, look who it is!!” That last seemed directed at her.

She grinned sheepishly at him; fingers hooked awkwardly in the belt loops of her jeans. So much for not running into anyone. “Hey Klaus. What are you doing here at 1:34 in the morning?”

He’d resumed eating his cereal and seemed in no hurry to answer her question. This left Vanya both annoyed and intrigued. Annoyed because she’d truly meant to get in and out without having to talk to anyone—especially Klaus. It’s not that she didn’t like her brother, just that he could be… a lot on the best of days. He’d have a field day if he knew she’d snuck in to try and find her journal. He’d always had an affinity for jokes and loud mouth behavior. Like the fact that he was still chewing dramatically on his cereal. As someone who was quite used to a solitary lifestyle, the possibility that Klaus might draw out this interaction had her shifting her feet and looking around the room as she tried to preemptively think of a reason to leave. Klaus spoke before she could even open her mouth. She hadn’t even seen him put his bowl back down.

He leaned his weight forward on crossed arms that leaned on equally crossed legs. If her were anyone else, she’d think it was a barrier of sorts. Klaus was too open of a person for that kind of thing, though. His voice interrupted her thoughts, “That’s funny. I was just gonna ask you the same thing.” His smile was beguiling, but his eyes seemed darker somehow.

“I, uh, I just came to,” she shook her head and gulped as she struggled to come up with a believable lie. “I just came to grab some stuff. In fact, I’m gonna do that now. It was good to see you.”

His smile seemed to sharpen at her response. She payed it no mind as she walked toward the stairs. Back turned to him, she started to breathe a sigh of relief. That had gone more easily than she’d thought. She’d figured Klaus would talk her ear off before forcing her to tell him why she was there. A dark voice in her mind pointed out that it was because she was boring, powerless Vanya and of course he wouldn’t want to spend too much time with her. She quickened her steps to distract from her spiraling thoughts when she heard it.

“Now you would think that a writer could come up with a better lie than that, Benji. Maybe she only knows how to bullshit when she’s selling out her siblings.” The clang of metal on ceramic signaled him picking his bowl back up.

Her footsteps come to a slow stop at the top of the stairs without her meaning them to. She should keep walking. She should go to her room, get her journal, and leave. She should be grateful that Klaus was there because he would only a) be allowed to or b) want to if Dad wasn’t around. His words shouldn’t bother her. It’s not as if Diego hadn’t given his own self-righteous brand of shit about The Book. Although maybe that’s what made her stop.

(She’d been walked into a CVS when she looked up and saw Diego walking out of the same store. They’d stood there in shock momentarily.

The silence hadn’t lasted long.

“I just think it’s funny how…”

Ten minutes later and Vanya was leaving without having stepped foot inside. Anger had been a dark cloud hovering over his face as he spoke to her.

(She thought she might’ve seen hurt in Diego’s eyes. But the idea of her being able to mean enough to Diego to be able to hurt him seemed outrageous.)

She popped a pill as she crossed the street.)

She’d heard enough about how she’d turned on her family and let them down and went around talking about things she didn’t know about. Klaus’ comment shouldn’t bother her. Her skin should be thicker. But maybe it’s the late hour. Maybe it’s the bone-deep tired feeling that had been following her for days, stealing the sleep from her and replacing it with ever spiraling thoughts. Maybe it’s because she’s just tired of being reminded that her siblings didn’t see her as a part of them. Whatever it is, it has her turning around to walk back down the stairs.

“Benjiiiii,” Klaus was whining, as usual, “what do you want me to say? It’s not like-” He’s climbed off of the table and is putting his bowl in the sink when he turns around and notices her. “Oh, hey Vanya. Get lost?”

Her thoughts of confronting Klaus bleed from her thoughts, leaving her scrambling. “Uh, what, oh no. I just, thought I’d, get some water.” She walks toward the refrigerator and opens it. Then she closes it and, before she can lose her nerve, she corrects herself. “Actually, uh, Iheardwhatyousaidaboutthebook.”

Silence. Neither one of them speaks for a moment. Klaus is silent for long enough that she eventually turns around to make sure he hasn’t walked out. Instead, he’s leaning against the sink with his arms crossed once again and his bearded mouth twisted in confusion and mirth. “You wanna try that again, Van Van?”

She expects him to continue. He doesn’t. She might as well have it out with him, too. Plus, she expects his anger to be easier to deal with than Diego’s. Still, there’s something in his voice that makes her wish she hadn’t left her pills at home.

“I said,” she steels herself for his response, “I heard what you said about the book.”

Klaus is the picture of unbothered as he rolls his eyes and uncrosses his arms, somehow flailing them in dismissal. He scoffs loudly, “From Diego? He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Just being a sneaky little drama starter.”

She shakes her head before he can turn back around or walk off. “No, just now. I heard what you said.”

He’s leaning against the sink and crossing his arms again. “Yes?”

She expects him to continue. He doesn’t. She expects that his anger will be easier to deal with than Diego’s.

“I just, I disagree with what you said.”

“What’d I say?”

“Klaus.”

“Vanya.”

Okay, so this wasn’t Diego’s anger. Somehow, though, it was still hard to deal with. She wants to leave so bad. Go back to her violin and her pills, forget this ever happened.

Klaus is still just standing there. She takes a moment to really look at him. So much of him is the same in ways that only make her more uncomfortable. The bags under his eyes only seem heavier. He’s thinner than he was before he left, which means he’s almost skeletal. He’s sharper than was, too, all jagged shoulders and bright clothes that only seem to highlight how pale he is under his goatee.

“I just think it’s funny how the person least involved in our training had the most to say about it.”

The anger that had made Vanya walk back into the kitchen flairs once again. “Which I wasn’t a part of, so I don’t get to talk about?”

“Exactly!”

She gapes at him and can’t help but feel like she’s in some sort of twilight zone. Vanya had expected Klaus to be upset. She hadn’t expected anger.

So much of her memory has been dulled because whatever feelings she’d had when they were made were also dulled. But she remembers that Klaus usually had one thing in common: avoiding confrontation. She did it with silence. He did it was noise. They weren’t like their other siblings, constantly fighting against something. Klaus and Vanya were more likely to hide themselves away than argue.

Klaus tilted his head in forced playfulness, "Dad was an asshole who controlled his store-bought child soldiers through their training. You had no right to tell the world about that."

Vanya felt the retort on the back of her throat, begging to be released. But she didn't realize she was speaking until she’d already opened her mouth.

“So I was excluded from your training, like I was excluded from this family, and now I’m being excluded from telling my own story?”

The anger in her chest seemed to swell and she felt like was about to vibrate out of her skin. Klaus rolled his head back and took a deep breath. Then he walked up to her and stopped when he was close enough for him to grab her hands with his own, cold as they usually were. His touch calmed her, but she was still tense in anticipation of his response.

“I’m not saying that. Van Van, I’m glad you found your voice. But you took ours!! And you had absolutely no right to do it."

She found herself gaping at him again. This time, it was in realization. She hadn’t considered that anything she’d put in the book could hurt her siblings. She’d been prepared for their anger, not their sadness. Maybe she hadn’t imagined the hurt in Diego’s eyes.

A moment of silence passes. She gulps.

“Dad really fucked us up, huh?”

Klaus released her hands and sauntered over to the door.

“You have no idea,” he replied laughingly. Then he was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr @monathedefiantslytherin


End file.
